BWIC Welcome Message

5 September 2018

A warm welcome to all those students joining the British West Indies Collegiate today, and welcome back to all those returning after a relaxing summer break. We also offer a welcome to Mrs Sarah Chapman, who joins the school as a teacher of mathematics.

Improvements

The Collegiate has been given a substantial face lift over the summer, with extensive repair, maintenance and redecoration, inside and out. We should like to express our sincere thanks to the TCI Education Foundation for their ongoing dedication to the school, and for making these improvements happen.

There are a few items of work that are ongoing, but these will be completed very soon. One feature that will be immediately visible to all is the new gravel that provides such a lift to the school grounds. We also have a new concrete path from the Admin building to the south car park. We ask that our students use this path and not drag their wheelie bags across the gravel, so that we can keep the stones in place and thereby help keep the school looking attractive.

You will notice that the basketball court has been renewed with an asphalt surface, as well as re-positioned posts that have been painted in a security-conscious, hi-vis pattern. The asphalt will be professionally marked with multi-sport lines – we are just waiting for a break in the weather for this to take place.

Timetable Change

One timetable change to which our school community must quickly grow accustomed is the shortened morning registration period. Registration will now occur from 0755 to 0800, so we ask that all parents/guardians ensure that they leave home early enough for their children to arrive with time to register, socialise, and prepare themselves for the day ahead. The first lesson each day will begin at 0800. This change allows for a longer lunch break of one hour. The school day will continue to finish at the normal time of 1520. We offer the reminder that students must be collected from school by 1545, unless involved in a teacher-supervised activity.

Communication Approach

Our pastoral approach has been strengthened, with the timetable now structured to allow more contact time between students and their form tutor. Parents/guardians are kindly asked to communicate directly with their child’s form tutor concerning daily matters. Mr Wilkinson remains the senior point of contact for students in years 7 and 8; Mme Wigglesworth for students in years 9, 10 and 11; Mrs Malcolm or her deputy, Ms Rankin, for students in the sixth form.
We are pleased to announce a change to the BWIC senior administration team in that Ms Maureen Jones has been appointed Assistant Vice-Principal.

BWIC will continue in its drive to become increasingly environmentally-friendly. Our main communications are now primarily electronic, with a weekly bulletin published on our Facebook page, also distributed by smartphone. We will be asking all students to bring back an updated email address and telephone number for their parents/guardians so that our messages may be distributed appropriately. Do please check, however, that your spam filters are adjusted, and that your inbox is not already full. Apologies to recipients on last year’s distribution list that are no longer directly connected with the Collegiate – we shall endeavour to update the list as soon as possible so that these mailings no longer bother you!

Hurricane Season

Finally, as we are in hurricane season, we must remain alert to developments in the weather in case we are forced to close or secure the school at short notice. Do visit the DDME Facebook page regularly.

As we begin this new academic year, we look forward to working in close collaboration as a school community for the benefit of all our students.

With very best regards,
Anthony Wilkinson
Vice-Principal